


Annie and Pepper (SFW)

by Ebhenah



Series: Fall Into You- Shance Anthology [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Amputee Shiro (Voltron), Canon LGBTQ Male Character, College Student Lance (Voltron), Domestic Fluff, Fall Into You, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Modern AU, Movie Nights, Neighbors AU, POV Alternating, Queer Lance (Voltron), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Veteran Shiro (Voltron), Youth Worker Shiro, kitten rescue, queer Shiro (Voltron), shance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23884906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ebhenah/pseuds/Ebhenah
Summary: Who could leave mewling kittens out in the rain in a battered cardboard box labelled 'free'?Certainly not Shiro, who has always had a soft spot for animals... and, apparently, also not his new (cute & charming) neighbor who turns out to be even more of a softie than Shiro.So, that led to weekly 'family visitation' for the two rescued kittens because Lance couldn't bear the thought of them never seeing other again (not that he ever complained, because Lance really is great company, and very cute)... which, in turn, led to getting to know just how amazing his neighbor is deep down.
Relationships: Lance/Shiro (Voltron)
Series: Fall Into You- Shance Anthology [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1721440
Comments: 6
Kudos: 59





	Annie and Pepper (SFW)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Fall Into You](https://twitter.com/talesofshance) [Shance anthology](https://talesofshance.tumblr.com/), which was spearheaded by the wonderful [Seki](https://twitter.com/rustdustshuffle). I was very lucky to collaborate with [Risa](LINK) whose art is so great and really set a high bar for me to meet in terms of charm and cuteness. 
> 
> As always, I'm hugely grateful to [Punk](https://twitter.com/PunkInGlitter) for acting as beta for me again.

The post-it note was bright yellow, almost glowing in the dim light of the hallway. The wall sconces were on a timer, so on stormy days like this one, when it was overcast and the evening light faded faster, the hall was mostly lit by little slivers of light peeking out from under some of the doors and the streetlamps shining through the big windows at the end of the hall. The instant Shiro saw that splash of yellow he was smiling. He knew what it meant- who it was from. Lance.

And just like that, his long, stressful day was redeemed. He shrugged out of his raincoat as he walked, each step closer to his apartment making his smile grow just a little brighter. Those silly post-it notes never failed to lead to a great evening. They tended to show up on his worst days, a splash of color on his door, shaped like a floodlight, the words ‘spotlight on this great idea!’ printed across the top of the beam of paper light, with Lance’s surprisingly neat handwriting below it. Sometimes it announced an oversupply of home cooked leftovers and a plea to protect the slender man’s waistline, or demanded his presence for board games. On occasion Lance requested help with his coursework, or company while watching one of the scary movies he loved, but spent half the run time with his face buried in a pillow and shrieking that Shiro tell him ‘when this part is over!’

He suspected he knew what at least part of the note would say, given the weather, and his smile grew when he saw that he was right. _Saved your girl from the scary storm. Ordered pizza. Dry off and bring wine! -- L_

His girl.

It was amazing how a few months could change things. It had been another dismal, rainy day that was expected to turn into a stormy night. He’d been late getting home from work, hunched into his raincoat and not wearing his earbuds for a change. Thank goodness- because it was the mewling that had caught his attention. The high pitched whines and squeaky noises that contrasted with the dull hum of rain, that had been ongoing for hours, made him stop and peer down the alley. He was half a block from his apartment building, and the day was miserable and all he wanted was to run a hot bath and brew a pot of tea, but he couldn’t ignore such pitiful sounds. He’d peered into the alley, trying to identify the source… and then he saw a waterlogged box, the word “Free” scrawled in huge black sharpie letters on the side. 

His first, outraged thought had been: ‘how could someone leave puppies out in this?’ The second had been: ‘I live in a dog-free building,’- but he was already moving, feet splashing in the puddles as he rushed to the box. He peeled out of his coat (he’d been unprepared for the rain and it was soaked through anyway) draping it over half the box to provide some kind of shelter for the helpless babies inside while he figured out his next steps. His eyes adjusted to the low light and he fiddled with the wet cardboard, finding two kittens crawling over each other and crying- obviously trying to escape the box.

Then the rain seemed to stop, but when he looked up, it had been the cute guy with the big family that had moved into the apartment across the hall from him at the start of the month. His hair was getting soaked, holding his umbrella over the whole mess of them instead of himself. “They look so cold!” he’d said, sympathy heavy in his voice, “poor babies!”

“I have no idea how long they’ve been out here,” Shiro said, “I just found them…”

“I know- we were on the same bus, I saw you duck in here… and then when I walked past… I’m Lance. I think we’re neighbors.”

“Yeah… you’re across from me. I’m Shiro… nice to meet you, I guess?"

He’d laughed, the sound warming Shiro against the damp chill as he reached into the box and scooped up the kittens. “Are they shivering?”

Shiro nodded, “they’re so cold, poor things.” Lance kicked the box aside, sitting on the ground beside Shiro and fiddling with the umbrella and then his coat while Shiro tried to dry the kittens off with the hem of his wet shirt.

“Here, you hold the umbrella, I’ll take them.” Lance’s yellow raincoat had been better suited to the weather, the lining warm and dry. He’d made a kind of nest for them in his lap, gently drying them and doing his best, with a little help from Shiro’s free hand, to keep them tucked into the warm fabric. “Oh… look at how cute they are! Precious little girls. I love cats. My family has four. I wanted to take Blue with me when I moved out, but she’s old… I can’t afford her medications and stuff… and it would be stressful to make her learn a new place. So, she’s still with my folks.”

“Your cat is named Blue?”

“Yeah… she’s got blue eyes. Listen- I was a kid! I’m better with names now… like… this one- this feisty little redhead here? This is Annie.”

“Annie? I feel like I’m missing something…”

“You know- the musical? The original one- with Carol Burnett and Tim Curry? I mean, I like the new one, too… but that Annie isn’t a little red-headed orphan like our girl here.”

“Oh… yeah… I kind of remember that movie. Cute name.” Cuter guy. Shiro couldn’t remember the last time he’d encountered someone so utterly charming, and with that bright smile and those blue eyes it was hard to look anywhere but at his handsome, animated face. 

“And this girl? See how she’s bigger… and she’s mostly black… so Pepper,” he nodded with finality, a raindrop falling from his brown hair to run down the elegant curve of his nose, “definitely Pepper… that’s another one of the girls in the orphanage with Annie.”

“You really like that musical, huh?” He couldn’t help the smile that bloomed on his face.

“Listen- it’s a classic… also, I’m an education major with a theater minor… so… kids and musicals… right up my alley… uh… no pun intended, given where we are at the moment.” His face fell, and it made something in Shiro’s chest lurch, “I can’t afford two cats!”

“What?”

“I’m a student- I mean, I have a job and my parents cover tuition, but.. I can’t afford _two_ kittens! How am I supposed to pick _one_ of these cutie pies? How can I give one a nice happy home and send the other one to a shelter? That feels so… cruel!”

“Uhhh…”

“This is awful! Why did I _name_ them?!? That was so dumb! I should know better,” he shook his head, “I’m not normally a flake, I swear. I’m usually very… well, okay, I’m a bit… whimsical… but I _am_ an actual grown-up.”

“I didn’t think you weren’t,” Shiro assured him, not really sure where this sudden conversation shift had come from, “you’re at least dressed for the weather- so some would say you are ahead of me on the grown-up scale.”

“The first rule for not getting attached to animals is not to _name them_.” Lance sighed, “and what did I do? I _immediately_ , name them both.”

“Well… there _are_ two of us here,” he pointed out, “and I’ve always liked cats. I could take one.”

“Really?” His face lit up with so much hope and happiness that Shiro probably would have taken five kittens if he’d asked at that moment.

“Yeah! Sure.” He turned his attention to the kittens, the little orange one was tucked up tight in the bend of Lance’s knee, but the other one was staring up at him. Mostly black, with a white splotch on the top of her head, covering one ear, and a white front leg. “I’ll take Pepper!” He gestured to his prosthetic, currently holding the umbrella, and then pointed to his sodden hair, “we kinda match.”

“Okay… Okay! Yeah, that would work! But… we have to make sure that they still spend time together!”

“We do?” Not that he was averse to the idea, but kitten visitation was not a concept he’d ever encountered before.

“Someone threw them away, Shiro… they shouldn’t have to lose each other, too!”

“Your family’s cats,” he said softly, “they’re all from the same litter, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, of course they are,” Lance answered, cuddling the cats close and starting to stand, “we should get our girls inside!"

* * *

It never failed to surprise Lance how much personality Pepper had. Annie was a pretty chill cat who loved to be cuddled and spent most of her time in either Lance’s lap or a sun-warmed spot on the floor. Pepper, on the other hand, never seemed to stop moving. She was the one that made use of the cat tower and the big basket of cat toys Lance had picked up over the last few months. Only to have Annie sniff at them and then act like they didn’t exist. He didn’t mind though. It was hilarious to watch Pepper race around the apartment killing toy mice and chasing after the little red dot of the laser pointer. 

Currently, she was stalking the shadow of a tree branch on his floor while he cut up tomatoes for the salad to go with the pizza he’d ordered. She was happy enough at his place, but when he’d gotten home from work, she’d been yowling at Shiro’s door. Neither of the cats handled storms all that well- Lance was convinced it was because of the bad weather the day they’d found them. 

Well, the day Shiro had found them. _Lance_ had found the hottie from across the hall wearing a soaked white t-shirt and kneeling in an alley, cooing adorably at something… and then, without even really realizing he’d moved, he was standing on the other side of the cardboard box that held their girls. Now, his handsome neighbor was one of his closest friends and the huge crush he’d initially had on him had… mellowed a bit.

Which is not to say that Takashi Shirogane, operating manager of the Youth At Risk program at the local rec center wasn’t absolutely swoon-worthy, because he sooo was! Just that… the awful nerves and giddy awkwardness of infatuation had given way to a genuine affection and a level of comfort that Lance valued. A lot. Shiro was a really great guy. Really great. He was smart and funny and so kind. Also somehow simultaneously a huge dork, and the sexiest man Lance had ever met in person. He really had no idea how the guy pulled that particular feat off, but he did. Lance kind of felt bad for the kids in those programs that liked guys, because Shiro was the perfect combo of movie star good looks and approachable to win over the hearts of teenagers left and right. As a kid who’d had a fierce crush on his old fencing coach, he knew how miserable that could be. Allura had had that same mix of relatable and too-pretty-to-be-real. So, he felt for the kids, he really did. 

He was moving on to the cucumbers when he heard the door to his apartment open and Pepper immediately abandoned the threat of the shadow-branch, to bound to the door. He smiled as he heard Shiro baby talk to the cat in Japanese. He had no idea what the guy was saying, but just the fact that he did it was adorable. “Pizza, huh?”

“I didn’t want to cook,” he shrugged, “and work sucked.”

“What happened?” Shiro leaned against the counter with Pepper curled in his arms and calm for the first time since Lance had collected her when he’d gotten home. They’d exchanged extra keys ages ago so they could tend to each other’s cats and in case of emergencies. 

Lance sighed, setting the knife down and turned to face Shiro properly. His heart jumped in his chest, and he suddenly had no idea what to do with his hands. “Just… I hate doing inventory,” he groaned, “especially for the serialized stuff. None of the guys pay attention to what boxes they are grabbing before they head out, and sure they change the information on the installation form, but that never gets inputted into the system. So every quarter I have to try to reconcile the digital records with the paper ones and you know what Coran is like about efficiency and-”

“Right. I know exactly how to fix this,” Shiro said, setting Pepper down and pulling Lance into a hug. “You have two semesters left until you have a teaching degree and can find a job in your chosen field. Two semesters. You can deal with working at the cable company-”

“Satellite television company,” he muttered, sinking into the comfort his friend was offering and not feeling the slightest bit guilty for the electric tingles he got from the contact.

“The satellite television company,” Shiro corrected, rubbing his hand briskly up and down Lance’s spine. Shiro gave great hugs. Lance loved his hugs. “For two more semesters. You can do this.”

“Thanks,” he sighed, “I needed to hear that. How was your day at the office?”

“Long,” Shiro sighed, releasing him from the hug and turning to pull the wine opener from the drawer where Lance kept it. “Stressful. Recommended yoga classes to a kid and the parents were in an uproar, because organized sport looks better on a college application. Poor kid is so overscheduled and stressed as it is- they _need_ something like yoga for their mental health but the parents… just… I get wanting to give your kid the best chance you can, but… hello? They are in the Youth At Risk program for a _reason_ so maybe you should try a _different approach_? I just…”

“Mmhmm… yeah, you are gonna need a bigger wine glass.” Patting his shoulder soothingly, Lance pulled down the novelty wine glasses his sister gave him for his twenty-first birthday. Each one held a full bottle of wine. He set them on the counter in front of Shiro, “okay… you were saying?”

Shiro stopped short, staring at the glasses. Lance watched as he slowly blinked, the agitation draining from his features like Lance had pulled a plug. One dark eyebrow quirked up at him and Lance grinned as he got to see Shiro give in to the smile that tugged at his lips. “Those are huge,” he laughed, leaning forward onto his elbow on the counter, shoulders shaking with mirth. “Where did you even _get_ wine glasses that size?”

“My sister gave them to me a couple of years ago,” he answered, unable to resist the delighted giggles he got from seeing Shiro bust up. “Just… split the bottle between the two of them and I’ll dish up salad and pizza.”

“Wait? You’re serious about using them?”

“Yeah? I mean, we both know we’re killing that bottle tonight- the weather is crap and we both had awful days. Pizza, wine, and a movie is just the thing to make up for it. Besides- I wanna send my sister a selfie as proof that I use her dumb gift.”

Shiro sighed, looking adorably resigned, “are we watching a horror movie or a musical?”

“I watch more than just horror movies and musicals!”

“But?”

“Kinda… both,” he smiled sheepishly, “Sweeney Todd.”

“See?” laughed Shiro, “I know you too well!”

* * *

“By the sea, Mr. Todd, that's the life I covet,” Lance sang to the cats, swaying around the apartment, halfway through his second (ridiculously massive) glass of wine. His accent was over-the-top and fairly terrible, but somehow completely endearing. “By the sea, Mr. Todd, ooh, I know you'd love it! You and me, Mr. T, we could be alone. In a house wot we'd almost own.” Shiro couldn’t help but smile at his antics. He’d insisted on dealing with the few dishes and stowing the leftover pizza in the fridge, since Lance had made the salad and ordered the pizza. He didn’t mind, and he knew Lance’s kitchen as well as he knew his own at this point, so it was quick work. He was pretty much done by the time Lance sang, “down by the sea! Wouldn't that be smashing?” and flopped onto the couch dramatically, narrowly missing Annie, who had taken it upon herself to steal the warm spot where Shiro had been sitting.

“Do you like the sea, Shiro?” Lance asked, setting the wine aside to pick up a toy mouse and dangle it in an attempt to get Annie to play.

“I’m from Japan,” he said mildly, “it’s an island.”

“Yeah… but that doesn’t mean you _like_ the sea. Come on, Annie! Don’t you want to catch the mousey?” Annie yawned, licking her paw before apparently deciding that the perks of the warm spot didn’t outweigh her owner’s attempt to cajole her into exerting herself. The fluffy orange cat hopped down and wandered out of the room. “Awww! I love you anyway!” Lance called after her, “you lazy thing!”

“I do,” Shiro answered, bringing Lance’s attention back to their conversation. “I like the sea. Not as much as you do,” he nodded at the large painting of the sun setting over the ocean that was the focal point for Lance’s entire living room, “but yeah. I like the beach, and I love seafood… I even like fishing. It’s peaceful.”

“I miss Cuba,” sighed Lance, “I used to spend my summers there, with all my cousins and my grandparents… I haven’t been there in years now.”

“That’s because you have been going to classes in the summer semesters, Lance- which means you are finishing your degree faster. It was a good decision. You work really hard, you should be proud of that.” He set the salad bowl in the cupboard and hung the damp towel on the handle of the stove, heading back to the couch. “But… that doesn’t mean you don’t get to miss Cuba. Just… don’t beat yourself up for not being able to visit for a while. Okay?”

“I’m not. I promise. The song just made me think of it- Oh hohoho! Look! Pepper has spotted the mouse!”

Sure enough, Shiro watched as his cat crouched, wiggled her butt like she had since she was a tiny kitten, and pounced into Lance’s lap, making him laugh. He cooed praise to her in Spanish, letting her bat at the toy a little before lifting it into the air again and making it bounce and dance around. Shiro chuckled at their antics, crouching down beside the couch to pick up a crumpled napkin that must have fallen when he’d carried the dishes to the kitchen. Lance said something he didn’t quite catch, so he turned to see if he was talking to him or to Pepper and just... froze.

Sometimes, it just hit him how appealing Lance was. This was one of those times. Lance was someone who was most attractive when he let his guard down and was just… himself. The wine had left a rosy flush across his cheeks, and his happiness at the simple act of playing with the cat and talking with a friend shone through in his beaming smile; and the way his eyes had drifted shut, like he was basking in it or something. His hair was kind of a mess, but in a charming way, and he’d folded his long legs up, sock-clad feet on the couch as Pepper flattened herself against the seating like a coil- wound tight and ready to spring. It shouldn’t be attractive. Not really. Cute, sure… but not… _hot_. Somehow, though, Lance made ‘lazing around the house and playing with the cats’ sexy.

Aside from that, Shiro loved the way Lance was with ‘their girls’. He loved the low-key, domestic vibe on nights like this, when they’d both had a rough day and needed to decompress. He loved how Lance always seemed to know whether he needed a laugh, or a distraction, or a pep talk. He loved how easy and natural they were hanging out together. He loved… Lance. He loved him.

He was in love with Lance.

He stayed there, peering over the arm of the couch at Lance playing with Pepper while that new knowledge sank in and reality rearranged itself around it. Now that he’d made the connection, it was hard to believe that it had taken so long! How had he not realized how just the prospect of spending time with Lance could redeem his day? How had he missed just how close they’d gotten? How had he been _so blind_ to how much more than friendship his feelings were?

“Shiro?” Lance waved a hand in front of his face, making him realize just how lost in his thoughts he’d gotten. He blinked, shaking his head and ducking back down to pretend to pick the napkin up for the first time. “You okay? Too much wine? You were pretty zoned out...”

“I’m fine,” he answered, turning away as he stood because he was absolutely certain that his face was blazing with a blush that he was far too old for. He just… needed a minute to adjust. “Long day, that’s all.”

“Was the movie a bad choice? I mean, I know it’s kind of… macabre… but it’s also kind of a classic…” 

Shiro could hear the worry in Lance’s voice start to shift to self-recrimination. He did that, sometimes. He’d second guess himself until it started to spiral out of control. The fastest fix was a hug, which was probably not a great idea at the moment. Thankfully, it wasn’t the only thing that worked. “Lance,” he said evenly, tossing the napkin into the trash, and adding some wine to the glass he’d set into the sink. Not much. Barely more than a splash. Just enough to justify the flush to his cheeks if Lance noticed it. “The movie wasn’t a bad choice. Everything is fine. I promise.”

“Cross your heart?” Lance asked, still unsure.

He couldn’t help it, there was just something about Lance’s voice when he said that that warmed his heart and made him smile. Returning to the couch with his wine glass, he gave Lance’s hand a squeeze. “Cross my heart.”

“And the food was good, right?”

“Lance,” he shook his head, chuckling softly and shifting on the couch to face his host instead of the tv. Pepper had long since bounded off, her attention captured by one of the many toys in the apartment. Already his unexpected burst of nerves was dissipating. It was just so… effortless to be around Lance. “Stop it. I zoned out. It happens. Everything was great- thanks for collecting Pepper so she wasn’t alone any longer than she had to be.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that,” Lance answered, relaxing, “you do the same thing for Annie when you get home first on rainy days. It’s like… our thing.”

“I thought musicals and horror movies were our thing?”

“That, too. We can have more than one thing.” He leaned his shoulder into the back of the couch, his head tipping to rest against the upholstery. The movement shifted his hand and they both seemed to realize at the same instant that Shiro’s hand was still covering Lance’s, the fingers still curled loosely around him following that little squeeze of reassurance. Lance’s gaze flicked from Shiro’s face to their hands and back up, his delicate, expressive brows arching in confusion and something that might… possibly… be… hope? “Umm… Shiro?”

“Yeah?” His voice was soft, barely more than a whisper and somewhere along the way he’d started to lean closer. 

“Umm… just how much wine have you had?” Lance’s own whispered words trailed off into a nervous ghost of a laugh.

“Less than you.”

“Cuz… if this is… a tipsy thing? You should… probably… go…”

“M’not tipsy. You?”

With a shake of his head, Lance’s blue eyes locked on his own grey ones as he rolled his hand in the frame of Shiro’s, lacing their fingers together. He held Lance’s gaze as the distance between them shrank. Held it right up until he could feel warm breath on his cheek and the soft caress of air over his skin made his eyes drift shut. 

* * *

There was something absolutely mesmerizing about Shiro’s eyes. Lance couldn’t look away. It felt like he was floating or something, the whole world going hazy and distant around him. He’d never seen so much… warmth in someone’s eyes before. Nothing in the world could hurt him with that gaze watching over him. So lost in that feeling was he that he didn’t even notice that they were moving at first. It wasn’t really until Shiro closed his eyes that Lance realized that they’d both leaned in so much. 

What was happening right now? How was this _his_ life? This couldn’t be his life! He was… Shiro was… They were friends! Shiro was his… Shiro was… Shiro was _kissing him_!

Warm lips pressed against his own. Soft, surprisingly shy, still tasting of their dinner and the second bottle of wine they’d opened halfway through the movie… but real. Very, very real. For the space of three heartbeats (Lance counted) that’s all it was- Shiro’s lips held, still and tender, against his own. It should have been… nothing. It should have felt chaste. Innocent. Unimportant. It wasn’t really any more intimate than the long, tight hugs they’d shared, or the times they’d both dozed off watching tv when hanging out on weekends. 

It was such a small kiss. It shouldn’t feel like the whole world inverting. It shouldn’t make his blood sing and his heart race and his head swim. 

It shouldn’t… but it did… and then the warm velvet of his lips was replaced by the cool air of the room and those grey eyes fluttered open again, searching his own. “Lance?” he breathed, looking more unsure than Lance had ever seen him, “that okay?”

“Yeah,” he answered, still a little dazed as a smile tugged at him. He felt the weight of Shiro’s prosthetic slide over his shoulder, his arm wrapping around him until they were pressed together and, wow, it felt _so_ different from all those hugs. He ran his own thumb over the soft, silky skin of Shiro’s wrist, feeling the pulse jumping under his touch. Oh God, this was really real! “Better than okay.”

“Yeah?” Damn, that smile was amazing.

“Yeah.”

The second kiss… was a different beast altogether. Their lips met again on a shared sigh and, to Lance, it felt like getting caught in a riptide… and oh. Oh! That crush that he’d thought had mellowed out… hadn’t. It had just… transformed… because Lance wasn’t some innocent kid. He was more than familiar with kissing his crushes… and _this_? It was not _that_. This was deeper. Stronger. More important.

His skin sizzled, the hand that wasn’t clinging to Shiro’s finding its way between them and the couch to clutch at the soft cotton t-shirt that hung loose at Shiro’s hip. Emotions welled up within him, threatening to bowl him under if he lost his grip on the man holding him so tightly- like he was something precious and irreplaceable…. Like he was something so much more than his neighbor and movie buddy.

No, that crush hadn’t mellowed, it had just gone into stealth mode and _grown_ , taking root in his heart and thriving just beyond his notice until he was well and truly gone on Shiro. That trilling joy in his chest? He knew that feeling. He’d felt hints of it before. Likewise, the heart-clenching mix of fear and excitement that was doing just as much to make him tremble as the unfairly tantalizing kiss was? He’d sampled a weaker, paler version of that before. Love. He was bursting with it. So, so, so much love.

It bubbled through him, combining with the sweet, increasingly hungry kiss to make him feel genuinely drunk. His nose scrunched and he giggled into the kiss, catching Shiro’s bottom lip between his teeth playfully before taking the lead. The noise Shiro made wasn’t one he’d ever be able to describe, but it’s meaning chimed clear as a bell. He licked into Shiro’s mouth, the heat of the kiss showing him that Lance was absolutely on the same page as he was.

By the time Annie butted against Lance’s knee, protesting the lack of attention, they were flushed and breathing heavy. Shiro’s pretty grey eyes were glassy and his lips adorably kiss-swollen and Lance felt like he’d had one too many glasses of champagne. “So,” he managed to say after a moment, shooing Annie away for the time being and smiling hugely, “I have some questions…”

“Me first,” Shiro countered, hand lifting to drag his thumb under Lance’s bottom lip, puffy and sensitive from his kisses like he wanted to prove they’d really happened. His focus shifted from Lance’s mouth to his eyes, and once again, Lance felt like he was captured by that gaze. Lost in the warm, kind grey, he nodded. “How the hell haven’t we been together for ages already?” Shiro asked, surprising him. “You… are amazing and it’s not like I didn’t already know that… So… why aren’t we together? I think… I think we belong together…”

Well, then… that answered, like, a _lot_ of his questions, so good call on Shiro going first! “You… think I’m amazing?”

“I haven’t exactly kept it a secret,” he smiled. That one stupidly adorable lopsided smile, that Lance was beginning to think might become a bit of an issue in the future, because it was so dang charming that there was no way Lance could resist it. “You work so hard, and you are so kind and funny and genuine. You have the biggest heart in the world, and I know it’s been broken and busted up over the years, but you don’t let it scar. You don’t let it keep you from caring, from being yourself. I love spending time with you. I like my life so much better since you came into it.”

“Wow… you are, like _really_ into me,” he teased, grinning at him, because he knew from experience that Shiro wouldn’t let him downplay or dismiss anything he’d said, and if he tried to respond seriously, he might just fall apart. It was hard to see himself the way Shiro described him. Sure he tried to be a good person, but… Shiro made him sound… Look, he was just a boy from Cuba who wanted to be a teacher. He didn’t think he was all that exemplary, so, really, his only available option was to joke.

“I really, really am,” Shiro agreed, completely derailing Lance’s attempt to lower the emotional stakes a little. “I’m hoping it’s not one-sided.”

Lance shook his head softly, knowing that a joke wasn’t going to cut it this time. “No.. it’s not one-sided. I’m really, really into you, too.”

Oh yeah, that lop-sided smile was going to be the death of him eventually, he reflected as Shiro pressed a tiny kiss to the corner of his mouth, “I think we belong together.”

“I… think we do, too.” He whispered, because it was a truth that felt fragile and exquisite. Like it might shatter and destroy them both if he was careless. “I’ve always loved the rain, you know. My family in Cuba has a farm, so I learned young that rain is a good thing. It brings gifts. Like, food and flowers. Like, Annie and Pepper. Like… you.”

“Like us,” Shiro added, gaze flicking to the storm still raging outside.

“Yeah. Us,” he answered, voice filled with love as he moved to kiss Shiro again, eager to make the most of their new dynamic. “It brought us together.”

_~Fini~_


End file.
